In our experiences, people do not “train”
puppies to be livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). The
puppies are born with an instinct of what their job
is and how they are supposed to perform. Following
are some do’s and don’ts for raising Great
Pyrenees puppies to be LGDs.

When we sell Great
Pyrenees LGDs (and we sell a lot of them), we
recommend the buyer not pick up the puppy until
it is at least 12 weeks old if they do not already
have a LGD to teach the puppy its job. Our adult
female dogs teach the young how to be guardian dogs;
people do not train them!

Until the puppies are 5 weeks old, they
seldom leave their bedding area. The next two to
three weeks are spent playing around the goats and
other animals. The next month is when they
start to learn their trade.

We have noticed that the mom will take the puppies
out with the goats and teach them to stay with the
goats – and not to play. The mom will normally
sit on the hillside nearby, watch what’s going
on, and if the puppies start playing, she will come
down and give them a stern warning before returning
to her hillside resting place. If a predator or
something disturbs the goats, she is available to
take care of the situation. This normally goes on
for a couple weeks. She will watch and take corrective
action – leaving the puppies on their own
for longer and longer periods of time. By the 12th
week, the puppies are providing protection to the
goats they have been left with but still are under
the watchful eye of the mom.

If you must get a puppy younger than 3 months old,
this is the advice we give all our customers:

1. When you take the puppy home, put it in a pen with
some of your smallest, most gentle goats (yearlings
are preferred). Some people recommend you put the
puppy in a pen with your biggest, baddest goat so
the puppy will learn respect. In our view, there’s
plenty of time for respect; this is bonding time!!

2. Do not play with the puppy. Do not talk
to the puppy. Do not pet the puppy. Your only "contact"
with the puppy for the first 3 weeks you have him
is to feed him.

“How cruel!!” you may say.
Maybe. But you want the puppy to bond with the goats.
You want the puppy to believe the only friend in
the world he has are the goats he's living with.
You want the puppy to think it is a goat or the
goats are puppies. If you play with the puppy, the
puppy will bond with you. This is great if you need
a dog for protection, but this is not good if you
want the dog to protect your animals.

3. After approximately 3 weeks (but definitely not
before), you can begin to speak to the dog - teach
him his name and to come when called. But still
don't spend time petting him, and definitely don't
play with him.

4. After you’ve had the puppy about 2 months,
start to interact more and more with the puppy. By
this time he should know what his duties are - who
he is protecting and staying with. But if the puppy
ever leaves his charges, discipline him with your
harshest tone of voice; let him know, for example,
that he is not welcomed in your yard or on your porch.
Around this time, you do need to train the puppy to
walk on a leash, not necessarily for the sake of the
puppy but for the dog it will grow into.

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